<![CDATA[gluten-free - FuzzyChef Food & Pottery]]>http://fuzzychef.org/Ghost 0.5Mon, 06 Jul 2020 20:19:22 GMT60<![CDATA[zaatar squash from Persiana]]>platter of zaatar squash

What if I told you I was going to share a recipe that was delicious and great-looking, healthful, vegetarian, gluten-free, and very low salt, and can be made year-round as either a main dish or side dish?

"What's the catch?" you'd ask.

The catch is one ingredient you need that isn't easily available to everyone: za'atar spice mix. And not just za'atar, but good za'atar, and lots of it ... 1/3 of a cup, or more. Yes, really, but it's what makes this recipe work. I'll have some advice on buying or even making a good za'atar below.

cover of Persiana book

The recipe is from Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour, an Iranian cookbook I borrowed from the library just before shutdown, so I have it until the libraries reopen. I would strongly recommend this cookbook for anyone who likes Middle Eastern food; as you're about to find out the flavors are very bold and the book is full of inventive food, including vegetarian dishes.

Now, as usual, I've taken some liberties with the recipe, including increasing the amount of za'atar and swapping the hot peppers for sweet peppers, but it all works. In the notes, I'll also explain the other changes you could make to the recipe depending on what ingredients you have around.

Now, about the za'atar: you'll want a "Jordanian" or "Palenstinian" style za'atar, which you can pick out because they are very green in color, not the muddy brown of a za'atar mix that has as much sumac as za'atar herb. Unfortunately, the "zaatar" sold by Western brands is generally terrible, including that sold by Penzey's. You need an actual imported brand, such as Mid East Jordanian Zaatar, Sadaf Green Zaatar, or Canaan Za'atar. If you can find a real middle eastern market, you'll find that the spice there costs a fraction of what it sells for in upscale supermarkets.

Alternately, you can make your own "fake za'atar" that will still work; look for the recipe at the bottom of my potato cake recipe

za'atar squash

  • 1 large butternut squash, 2-3lbs
  • 3 tbs to 1/4 cup olive oil (good Greek or Arabic oil)
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup za'atar
  • 1 cup Greek-style yogurt
  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup minced fresh mint, or 2 Tbs dried mint
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp ground sumac
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup finely diced bell pepper (about 1/2 pepper) (but also see below)
  • 2-3 Tbs minced parsley (optional)
  • 1 Tbs nigella seed (optional)
  • Equipment: large rimmed baking sheet (half sheet pan), foil or parchment, large bowl, large flat spatula, platter for serving

Peel the squash, quarter it lengthwise, seed it, then slice it into pieces that are around 3/8" thick (1cm). Put the pieces in a large bowl, then toss them with the olive oil until completely coated. Follow that with the za'atar, tossing until the squash is all coated and the za'atar is saturated with oil and sticking to the squash. If the za'atar is too dry, add a little oil, and if the squash isn't coated, add a little more za'atar.

Heat the oven to 450F. Line the rimmed baking sheet with parchment or foil. Carefully spread the squash across it, so as much squash as possible is in a single layer, or at least not overlapping very much. If there's zaatar-oil mix on the bottom of the bowl, drizzle this onto the squash. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for around 40 minutes, until many peices of the squash are brown on the edges. If you have an electric oven, switch to convection for the last 15 minutes of cooking.

While the squash is cooking, create the yogurt mixture. Mix the mint, salt, 2 Tbs olive oil, the sumac, the lemon zest and lemon juice, and the ground coriander into the yogurt until homogenized. If the yogurt is still very clumpy, add a little more oil and/or a little water.

Take the squash out of the oven. With a large, flat spatula, carefully lift the squash and arrange it in a single to double layer on the platter. Dot the squash with large spoonfulls of the yogurt mix, then sprinkle the diced pepper, parsley, and/or nigella seeds over the top.

Serves 2-3 as a main dish, and up to 6 as a side dish.

platter of squash from above


In my version, I substituted diced bell pepper for the sliced hot red pickled peppers that Ghayour calls for. You could do those, or jarred roasted bell pepper, or even pomegranate seeds. Anything red and brightly acidic should work.

You could also make this with other winter squashes, as long as they are not stringy or too wet, such as delecata squash or sugar pumpkin. It would be interesting to try it with sweet potatoes.

http://fuzzychef.org/zaatar-squash-from-persiana/a13dbb7a-d482-4682-941c-5262d2996383Sun, 26 Apr 2020 16:38:32 GMT
<![CDATA[Cuban Christmas, part 2]]>picture of Cuban fish dish

Having finished the appetizers and salad course we moved on to our main course. Now, the super-traditional Christmas eve dinner for Cuban-Americans is Lechon Asado (roast pork shoudler), with rice and black beans, and I had to have all of those things, and you'll see them in a minute.

What you're seeing above, though, is the fish dish, because I may cook pork, but I haven't started eating it, so I wanted some fish for me at least. Now, the recipe I had was for baked grouper with peppers, green onions and cilantro, but grouper isn't a fish you can get on the West Coast so I used sole instead.

bowl of black beans and rice

Now, I did say beans and rice, didn't I? Yes I did. And in my opinion, there is no better way to eat black beans and rice than to combine them in the form of moros y christianos where the rice and beans are cooked together. Yes, this dish does have the rather insensitive name of "Moors and Christians". It's traditional, deal with it. It's also tasty, and almost a meal in itself.

However, there's still the pork. The pork I spent two and a half days making. You ready?

Now, as you know I don't exactly cook a lot of pork. Heck, I don't cook any, since I don't eat it. So I turned to my Cuban friend Alina for advice, and she helped me out with a recipe for Lechon Asado, the traditional Cuban pork roast.

cuban pork roast, sliced

Alina's recipe lays out for you how to make proper Lechon Asado, so I'm just going to give you my tips and modifications.

First, I only used 5lbs of pork, because that's still a ton of pork and it was more than too much for 8 people. Second, I used a lot more garlic, like two whole heads, so that I could poke 30-40 half-cloves deep into the meat. I had two thoughts here; one was that, well, I like garlic, and the other was that more holes in the pork would help the marinade reach more of the meat.

Now, the traditional marinade that Alina gives you is made from sour orange juice (naranja agria), and while folks offer various substitutes for this, you really don't want to swap it out. Order it online if you don't have a good Latin market in your area. Since the Badia sour orange is a bottled product, it lacked acidity so I added a bit of lemon juice to it. I also used the sour orange juice in the mojo de ajo sauce I made to go with some of the other dishes.

Next, I marinated the pork in a giant plastic bag, which was much easier than trying to fit a roasting pan into the already crowded-fridge, and made it easy to flip the meat over for even marination. Since this was a smaller pork roast, I "only" marinated it for a day and a half. You really need at least a day for this recipe to work, and up to three days is better.

Then roast for 4 hours, let rest, slice, and broil. The guests told me it was fantastic; I had to take their word for it.

plate of flan

Dessert, of course, was proper flan. Because what else would you make with a Cuban meal? We did have a bit of a start because the caramel in the bottom of the flan cups crystallized, but that actually turned out not to matter at all. It re-caramelized in the oven.

So that was last year's Cuban Christmas eve. Hopefully it inspired you to try something a bit more adventurous for your own holiday meals.

As for this year ... I'm doing Belgian food. Watch this feed for that!

http://fuzzychef.org/cuban-christmas-part-2/27f4f668-95f0-4ddb-b872-ed2caf9bdd17Mon, 16 Dec 2019 19:37:10 GMT
<![CDATA[consider a Cuban Christmas]]>photo of holiday table with cuban fish in foreground

In the last few years, it's become my responsibility to feed family and Southern Oregon friends Christmas Eve dinner, and then we go to a friend's house for Christmas day.

Yes, Christmas. My sweetie's family isn't Jewish, and I'm fine cooking for the holiday because, after all, my real religion is Feastitarianism*. There's also gonna be pork in this blog post, so be prepared.

Anyway, we have a couple special diets in the group, including one person who is allergic to fish and another one who has celiac. This has meant being fairly creative, especially since I still prefer doing ethnically themed meals. So last year, I chose Cuban food, and I'm posting this before Christmas in case you want a Cuban Christmas too. And you should! It's so colorful, and so tasty!

plate of tostones

First course was appetizers, and if it's Cuban or Puerto Rican food you know we're going to have tostones. These are a delicious fritter made with green plantains, bought when they're hard and starchy and you have to peel them with a knife.


  • 2-4 green plantains
  • 2 cups peanut oil
  • salt

Peel the plantains, then cut them into 2-3" chunks (for large tostones) or 1-2" pieces (for small ones). Heat half the peanut oil in a large, deep pan to low frying heat (300-325F) and shallow-fry them, turning them with tongs, until the chunks are brown on all sides. This will take around 10-12 minutes per batch; cook multiple batches rather than crowding them.

Drain the fried plantain and let it cool to room temperature. Then mash them flat, thin as you can make them (I use a tortilla press). Turn up the heat on the oil (350-380F) and fry them in batches until crisp drain them, blot dry, and salt them while they're still hot.

Of course, with the tostones I had to serve some sauces: mojo de ajo sauce and banana ketchup.

cassava flour cheese empanadas

Now, I mentioned the gluten-free nature of the dinner, which led to some experiments -- such as these cheese empanadas, made with cassava flour dough. These are technically Dominican cuisine rather than Cuban, but they were perfect for the meal.

I experimented both with frozen cassava pulp, and with flour, and found the flour much easier to work with, so that's what I recommend. They fried up beautifully, and the cassava dough was light and airy, almost like some kind of puff instead of dough. I'd make these again even if I wasn't serving a gluten-free meal.

Now, on to the salad course:

grapefruit salad on a platter

Every year my dad, who lives in South Texas, sends me a box of the amazing ruby-red grapefruit they grow there for Hanukkah. So of course I needed to make a grapefruit salad! This one has butter lettuce, sweet onions, and cucumbers.

avocado salad with tomatoes

Now, as far as my sweetie is concerned one of the main reasons to eat Cuban is to have an avocado salad. This is a classic one, with sliced avocados, hothouse tomatoes, and a garlic, olive oil, and fresh oregano dressing.

That's enough for today. Tommorrow we'll get into the main course, and The Pork That Cooked For Two Days.

(* Feastitarianism: you belong to whatever religion is currently having a feast day, today)

http://fuzzychef.org/consider-a-cuban-christmas/bf1f8f73-ae42-40dd-9856-ddf7e9ad33c0Sun, 15 Dec 2019 06:32:08 GMT